The Hindu : Front Page : 2 killed in blast at Ajmer dargah

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Friday, Oct 12, 2007
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2 killed in blast at Ajmer dargah

Mohammed Iqbal and Praveen Swami

Shrine venerated by Hindus, Muslims and Christians across northern India

— Photo Courtesy: Rajasthan Patrika

Terror in shrine: Officials and devotees at the Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti dargah in Ajmer on Thursday after a bomb attack.

JAIPUR/NEW DELHI: Two people were killed and 17 injured on Thursday when a bomb ripped through the dargah of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, a shrine in Rajasthan venerated by Hindus, Muslims and Christians across northern India.

Officials said the bomb went off at 6.12 p.m., near the Ahata-e-Noor, a courtyard located some 20 metres from the saint’s mausoleum. Some 5,000 devotees are estimated to have been present inside the shrine complex at the time of the bombing, which took place soon after Iftar – the time when the day-long fast observed during the month of Ramzan is broken.

A PTI report said one of the persons killed was identified as 45-year-old Mohd. Shoaib from Mumbai, who had come to offer prayers.

Panic gripped the shrine and the neighbourhood after the deafening explosion. People seeking to escape the area rushed into the narrow alleyways surrounding it, while shopkeepers downed the shutters hurriedly. Police, who reached the site immediately, cordoned off the entire area, thus preventing a stampede which could have claimed more lives.

Amid the commotion, a crowd of angry devotees attacked policemen at the Dargah Bazaar. The situation was immediately brought under control and the district administration appealed to the people to maintain calm. Ajmer Divisional Commissioner DeepakUpreti said extra forces had been rushed to the pilgrim city to ensure that prayers at the shrine could be restored as early as possible.

Intelligence sources in New Delhi said that the device used to execute the bombing was fabricated by packing a low-intensity explosive and metal fragments inside a metal lunch-box. Fragments of a mobile phone were also recovered from the site, but forensic experts were unable to immediately determine if it or a clock-based timing device was used to trigger the explosion. No group has claimed responsibility for the terror strike, which comes on the eve of Juma’t Al’Vida – last Friday of the month of Ramzan, which is marked by special prayers.

Officials, however, noted that the Ajmer attack was the most recent in a string of attacks on Muslim religious institutions and civilian targets since 2006, for several of which members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba have been alleged to be responsible.

Earlier warning

Speaking at a conference of Directors-General of Police from across India, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil had last week warned that terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba would strike religious institutions in an effort to provoke communal conflict. However, Intelligence Bureau sources said, there had been no specific warnings that a strike on Ajmer or any other shrine was imminent.

Attack condemned

Muslim social groups here condemned the attack inside the dargah, which they said was intended to disturb communal harmony in Rajasthan. Jamat-e-Islami Hind State president Mohammed Salim said the elements choosing soft targets like the dargah should be identified by a thorough probe and their plans exposed. A delegation led by All India Congress Committee general secretary Harendra Mirdha, left for Ajmer to meet the injured and visit the dargah.

New Delhi Special Correspondent writes:

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil has condemned the blast at the Ajmer dargah, saying that “condemnable designs of elements inimical to the country to cause communal discord should not be allowed to succeed.”

Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta said the Ministry was in constant touch with the State government.

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